The idea has sprung to mind so time to let it develop.I've had the idea of a fat bike for a while now. Take it with car to a 4wd fishing beach, park car and out comes said fat bike and roll on down to the beach. I did want a touring bike and I think I've stumbled on a compromise.My CX can road tour and dirt road tour no dramas. Leaves the areas of trails, beaches etc uncovered. Fat bike enters the scene and can handle all that and more. Early days and going to be months before I even think about getting one, but the idea is from a picture I've found

Check his other posts to see how it handled the beach and also his more recent one's about the snow if you want to get some idea of performance.He works as a bike mech and also has a lot of experience with 4WD offroading so he has good ideas/precautions about moving parts + sand

(he gives lots of tech ideas on how to spec a pugsley to be more corrosive free if you plan to regularly hit the sea-side).

I almost went down that path (before I got side tracked by recumbents).

In the end I settled for keeping my MTB with 2.5" wheels , getting a handlebag harness and oversized MTB saddle bag.(as a side point, I do recall someone saying you can squeeze 2.5" tyres on a pugsley if there is a lot of asphalt between the beaches you plan on riding (save on burning your $100 fattie wheels and probably 20% more calories for no reason)

I liked the pugsley because you could fit an internal gear easier (saves having a rear cassette sounding like a pepper grinder). I liked the mukluk because it had an aluminium frame (no rust).Never really got around to making my mind up.

Oh nice find. However down the track it would get a Rohloff pure and simple. No RD then. But the link you provided is showing a Moonlander which is the one I'm eyeballing. Pretty paint job as well. I actually think I saw his youtube this morning of fatbikes on Moreton Island

EditOn reading the blog he went the Nuvinci for no drive train loss hmmm I know what you have to do with the Rohloff

I'd be thinking that the Surly Krampus might be the perfect compromise - a 29er with 3" tyres

Though I reckon if you have a 29er that'll fit a more normal 2.4 to 2.55 width tyre then you'll be good to go virtually anywhere in this country...even mine with a 2.2 eats its way through sand OK at high pressures

haha I've been summonsed!! about to put a rack on mine for touring purposes....it's waiting at the PO for me to pick it up.... not going to go the front rack as I have a carbon fork (Carver O'Beast) but using a handlebar bag instead

the 9:zero:7 I have is the aluminium 135mm offset version but you can get one that takes an internal hub setup AND is aluminium... can get frames or full bikes from fatbikes.com

jet-ski wrote:haha I've been summonsed!! about to put a rack on mine for touring purposes....it's waiting at the PO for me to pick it up.... not going to go the front rack as I have a carbon fork (Carver O'Beast) but using a handlebar bag instead

the 9:zero:7 I have is the aluminium 135mm offset version but you can get one that takes an internal hub setup AND is aluminium... can get frames or full bikes from fatbikes.com

The rack is on, did the rail trail loop yesterday to test it out with a light load, seems good. Not a lot of clearance though and it looks a bit goofy. Other frames might be less goofy in set up because of the location of the 9:zero:7 rack bosses. Will upload pics and write a blog post tonight.

Well after making an enquiry at GKAsports about custom bont shoes, they directed me to one of 2 places. One with no experience, the others with heaps. I was looking at their website before contacting them, yes this seems off topic right now.

What do I think I see on their website, a Surly Moonlander, so my phone call I ask about that as well. Turns out they are the home of Fat Bikes in WA. So when I get my feet moulded, I'll also do a test ride.

You've probably already found these, but if you're on Fb the bikepacking oz group is useful. And the Alaskans/northern Canadians do a lot of fat trips - the Revelate Designs crew often have some cool stuff on the blog, and bikepacking.net seems to have a lot of fat bike experience.

Well sure it's a beautiful bike, but means I would need to save longer to get itSurly Moonlander $3.2k-$3.5k and locallyThat is $5.3k in the configuration I want then I need to factor in duties as well.Tackle on the fact I want to change what ever fat bike I get into a IGH most likely a Nokon 360 which is an extra $500 odd. And racks and mudguards

On the Surly blog they made a fat version of their Big Dummy cargo bike, no promise of a production version but it would make an interesting ride. Consider the Dummy without those racks, you'd have a fat tyred long wheelbased bike for a truly plush ride.

just4tehhalibut wrote:On the Surly blog they made a fat version of their Big Dummy cargo bike, no promise of a production version but it would make an interesting ride. Consider the Dummy without those racks, you'd have a fat tyred long wheelbased bike for a truly plush ride.

Been done, and quite some years ago now. The drivetrain needed on this thing is a beast

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